I have been getting maybe 16 oz out of my left hull and 1 oz out of my right when I remove the drain plugs after sailing. I do it with the trailer pitched up on the steep part of my driveway. But today I got maybe 2 gallons from the left (and nothing from the right). It ran for a good minute. I also noticed it was leaking a little bit around the drain plug, which I hadn't noticed before. Could be because there was so much more water pressure behind it.

Anyway, I'm a bit concerned about getting that much more water than I usually do, and I don't know if even 16 oz was normal. How can I check for leaks?

Here's something else to consider: Last time I went sailing, it was too windy for me and I almost capsized when I jibed and turned too far into the wind and didn't get onto the new windward hull. So my right hull went up, left went down and I scrambled to save it. So I'm sure the left hull got drenched. When I got home that night, I didn't pull the drain plugs on the steep part of my drive. Instead I manually lifted it the next day to drain, which doesn't get it as high.

So maybe this water was left over from that time, but still, I don't think it's normal, is it?

Thanks!

Danno, Wet your boat down with hose or sponge, then take a sponge soaked in soapy water,( I used dish liquid ) and go over any areas that might have leaks.Do one hull at a time. Take a vacum cleaner, reverse the hose so that it blows instead of sucks,hold the hose about an inch from the drain plug hole, and then look for where it's blowing bubbles/foaming, these are your leaks! To check the seal of the drain plugs you can put the hose in an inspection port if you have one, and soap up the closed plugs. It's easier if you have two people, and helps if you have a grease pencil to mark the leaks.

Yes an inch away is about right - just be sure not to seal the hose around the drain plug hole.
Best regards!

If you can't find help and your boat has deck ports you can tape the hose to the drain plug hole. Remove the deck cover. Turn on the vac and using 2inch tape place strips over the port hole until you build some pressure. Then go find leaks.

Check your drain plug gaskets (O-rings). When I bought my boat one of them was completely missing. I had no idea and the hull would take on some water. This year I have been taking on about 1-2 cups in each hull. I changed my o-rings last sail and I had no water.

It is the easiest fix 10 cents and 1 min!

Hopefully that is the problem.

matt

Thanks everybody :-)

I'll try looking at the drain plug O-ring. After all, before emptying the left hull after the last sailing, it was leaking water past it.

If that doesn't work, I'll do the blower way. Thanks for the how-to's.